MikeM

http://www.collectorcarads.com/Ford-Ranger/58017


Here is a custom Ford Ranger we built right on line at our plant in 1984(?)

Paid for out of the plant operating budget and labor provided by the UAW, much of it for free.

Dearborn was notified we were building it. I don't know if there was any engineering approval but I suspect there must have been as the truck was eventually sold and is still in Louisville 30+ years later.

How many would believe we built this truck on-line?

We also built a Ranger on line with a five speed transmission (not an available option then) and a complete Mustang SVO Turbo engine. Went right down the line and started/ran when it came off. Drove it outside and in a moving van and sent it to Dearborn. There was no paperwork on this one.

Lot's of things happened back then that couldn't happen today due to ....(take your pick).

tuxnharley

Hmmm, well, if we're still talking about the '61 Corvettes that started this thread - Harley Earl retired in 1959. Bill Mitchell then took over.

Earl was the GM vice president in charge of the Design and Styling Department, not Chevy Engineering.

tuxnharley

Yup! A collector I used to work for had a pair of early T-Birds, a '56 and a '57, that were pulled off the line to have Hollman and Moody prepared NASCAR 430 ci Lincoln motors installed. Story was that the plant manager had it done for a couple of his friends......

MikeM

Considering the era and the fact a plant manager had access to a considerable budget, that's a believable story to me.

GTOguy

There is a successful TV series airing now called "Finding Bigfoot", with a large audience of 'believers'. That pretty much tells you all you need to know about a certain percentage of our public. Ever since I was a small kid, I was aware of B.S'ers and tall tales. They began their stories with "Trust me...." "It's a proven fact....", etc. etc. Everybody enjoys a good tall tale, but the prudent don't have to believe it.

MikeM

My wife's family lived in the foothills of the Appalachians. We'd visit on holidays for Thanksgiving and Christmas for family gatherings.

All the adults sitting around a coal stove in the living room. There was her dad, two uncles and granddad. They would sit there for hours on end, telling stories they'd probably told a hundred times. Each tale would start off with, "now buddy, I'll tell you what's the truth", and that tale would start before the last one finished his tall tale.

Every time I heard, "now buddy, I'll tell you what's the truth", I knew I was going to hear a damn lie!

ifitgoesfast

Correction, it was Bill Mitchell. But there indeed was a secret garage where they experimented with new ideas. I thought it was Earl because the AmeriCARna show, last spring, was almost all about Harley Earl.

AZDoug

I think you mis read his post.

The easiest way to debunk a rumor like this is to ask what the SN was.

if it is 10933 or less, it couldn't be one of the last six '61 built, and the rumor would BS on its face, as Chev wouldn't randomly install 327s in cars here and there to make it like finding a prize in cracker jack box.


Doug

AZDoug

Then I remember a story in MT or C&D or one of the other rags , circa 1974, about some guy on the assmbly line that ordered (IIRC) a base F150, but with the help of his buddies it got a Boss 429 motor, custom interior, ect, ect ad nauseum, and special paint, all done on the sly but a supervisor noticed the paint was too nice at final inspection and looked at the truck the jig was up.

And that story itself, is a story, no proof it ever happened.

Doug

vettebuyer6369

It just seems Corvettes and their sellers, er, "owners," (aren't they usually sellers?) have more of these unsubstantiated stories of magical anomalies than any other car marque.

I was at the AutoFest in North Carolina one year and a very nice guy had a '70 LT1 coupe for sale. The oddball part of it was that it had a '69 rear clip on it, with wheelwell flares that clearly did not match the front. He had a long story about how it was one of the rare models that "carried over the previous year's leftover parts because GM didn't just waste stuff, y'know" complete with all the excuses about GM employees not caring about what Corvette freaks might think 30 years later and a guy I know whose friend is a Corvette expert confirmed, blah, blah. Even had a nice little flyer folded up in a 3 way brochure explaining the rare car for people.

He was certainly nice enough and politely discussed my skepticism. I finally said that the later in the year production of the car seemed to go against the idea that GM was using up leftover body parts, that I'd expect the car to be very early if that were the case. He accepted that comment but maintained that GM didnt care about such details that long ago and that the strike complicated everything.

Tough to prove a negative, but Urban Legend Corvette stories are not uncommon.

MikeM

Engine subs (upgrades) used to routinely happen as long as they were in the same engine family, i.e., sub a 390 four barrel (or even a 390 police interceptor engine) for a two barrel 352. Same way with upgrading transmissions and axles. Sometimes nine inch axles went out the door in place of the base axle. Same with open vs traction lok axles. Dual exhaust instead of single. Higher level interior trim. Carpets instead of rubber floor mat. Upgraded tires and hub caps. 2-3 passes through a paint spray booth instead of one. Extra sound deadener everywhere. And on and on and on...............

If got tougher to do this in the late '60's when FMVSS regs took hold and the powertrain stuff was a positive inspection buyoff on the federal travel ticket which had to be kept of file for X years. Plant security checked all vehicles for option content against the window sticker before the car went out the gate to the convoy yard.

In 1978, I even built my own custom LTD station wagon. Guaranteed not another one like it ever built.

I have no proof of any of this but if you know someone that worked in an assembly plant in that era, they would tell you similar stories.

Frankie the Fink

My first house after being married in 1975 was two miles from the Norfolk truck assembly plant: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk_Assembly

I prob knew 1/2 the crew that worked there and many were neighbors -- I heard assembly stories daily. Yes, a few employees had some special things done to their trucks as they were built, nothing on the order of major engine swap-ins or other such things.

rayvaflav

My understanding is that particular Corvette was factory-built but it was George Barris' factory.

Ray

tuxnharley

Ah - possibly so. My apologies if that is the case.

Railroadman

Funny how these stories always involve the substitution of a MORE desirable component. For example, you never hear they had a few left-over 283's from '61, so someone got a '62 with a 283. Even though GM hated to waste stuff.

Nowhere Man

Thinking the same thing.

MikeM

The only time I can think of when Chevrolet used "leftover" prior model parts is when they went to the large main bearing engines across the board in 1968.

There was a large number of leftover 1967 283 engines that were put into 1968 model Chevrolets. I'm thinking 9000 or so?

The main difference was the rod/main bearing size and the hole in the back of the block for a block breather.

I'm sure there are other examples. That's the only one that comes to mind.

Railroadman

9,000 leftover 283's? Wow, somebody's scheduling / purchasing was way off.

AZDoug

That was probably only a couple days worth of production.

Doug

wmf62

kinda like my 99 GMC pickup... there are 2 different 99 GMCs (and probably Chevys) because the real 99s were supposedly late.. so, GM turned 98s into the SIERRA Classic.... sure makes it interesting to order parts for a 99...
Bill